Melody knows no swizz

Photo: Shaju John

LOOK FOR DEPTH Amjad Ali Khan

“Thank god I live in the world of sound,” says the sarod maestro, with calm contentment. While common knowledge affirms the existence of numerous types of music, Amjad Ali Khan asserts that there are just two types the world over — one being pure sound with graceful glides and slides between notes, and the other is the music with text. In keeping with the old saying that language creates barriers, Khan saab says that human wrongs doings such as lies and manipulation are possible to a large extent only in the presence of language as a medium. Amjad Ali Khan stands out as a musician who has played numerous duet concerts with musicians from the south of India. If a musician fails to exhibit such an attitude, he ought to remain a soloist, for, he is not ‘duet material’, he says. “I had raised the issue of eliminating the popular terminologies ‘Hindustani’ and ‘Carnatic’ music 25 years ago,” he says. He believes that this nomenclature is faulty not only because it has a geographical connotation which is irrelevant in our times, but also since it misrepresents the forms, thereby widening the drift between regions, music and ultimately the people. He believes that for any performing musician, a sense of proportion is a crucial attribute. He analyses that a lack of this sense proved to be a serious problem to classical music many years ago which led to many ghazal, bhajan and qawwali singers in the musical horizon. “It is very important to know when to curtail,” he says, failing which one would not only lose an audience but also motivation to pursue classical music with a mandatory, strict regimen it demands. With this, the rightful fruits of such efforts becomes greatly delayed or even absent. He believes it is important to be introspective and conscious about musical presentation.

The sarod is his life’s ultimate calling. And evidently, this doesn’t end with him excelling at an individual level, winning hearts of musical connoisseurs across continents. He is actively concerned about the present and future of classical music, in the light of the current politico-religious milieu of the country. “We live in a time where the Ministry of Culture perceives culture as commercial tourist visits to the Taj Mahal and the slums of India,” he says. The youngsters in the music field, he advices, should be driven by the depth of music and devote themselves to understanding it, rather than hurrying up to cut albums and appear on the television. As a way of life, he believes that striking a fine balance between tradition and the inevitable influence of the West must be every youngster’s pursuit. “I feel very sad to meet youngsters who behave like the Americans or British in India,” he laments.

Amjad Ali Khan is in a new phase of his life, composing symphonies for Scottish and Chinese orchestra, his latest ‘musical flirtation’ as he puts it. He describes his life as one that resembles the gait of an elephant — steady, slow and with dignity, much true to the rightful place he holds as a representative of the sixth generation of his legendary musical lineage.

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